Briefly, I am standing for Lord Mayor of Brisbane because of the current Council’s disregard for its citizens’ rights and interests. I believe Brisbane needs an independent Lord Mayor answerable to the people, not just another political party hack.
The disregard the current Council have for the citizens of Brisbane is expressed in a very real way through the City Plan, which has an immense and permanent impact on the day-to-day lives of every person in Brisbane through the houses they live in, and the way their surroundings function. .
In a general way, the policies enshrined in the City Plan are leading to Brisbane becoming any other forgettable modern city which does not rise out of its place.
Despite the constant waffle coming out of the Council about sub-tropical design they do not actually implement it. What we need is a vigorous discussion of ideas, then the implementation of sensible and creative policies to create a subtropical city. A city with a pride of place that identifies you as a Brisbaneite rather than a Sydney Sider or Melbournite.
At the day-to-day working level of the City Plan, the development process has become a frustrating, unfair and costly business. Large developers now routinely budget for a session in the Planning Court to cut through the red tape and bypass the subjectivity of the Council’s assessment—an option not available to the average citizen. The cost of housing has become a major issue, and the current City Plan increases that cost immensely.
I believe it is vital that:
· The development application process is simplified, and deal simply with the planning issues and not issues of personal taste.
· The prescriptive elements in City Plan are amended to allow the building designer expression in form and design—no more “thou shalt build a pseudo-Queenslander”.
· The person who wants to do something should not be controlled unfairly by the neighbours and by belligerent bureaucratic controls. An objector should be bound by the same conditions he is asking to have placed on his neighbour. Unless he accepts them, his objection should be seen as vexatious.
· There must be an end to “brown paper bag planning” whereby you can pay for an increase in Gross Floor Area or a relaxation in some other area. If an increase is appropriate, it should be available to any citizen, not just someone who can pay for it. If it is not appropriate, it should not be allowed, no matter who pays what. Planning by payment is immoral, unethical and simply not “planning”.
· There must be an end to ridiculous height controls which promote bad climate design, increase excavation and fill-dumping & increase cost.
· The Council must innovate to reduce costs of delivered land for new home owners.
· There has to be fair play in heritage-listing of private property. If listing is for the common good there has to be help from the common purse, rather than personal cost and impoverishment.
The current Council team has been getting its own way for too long—nobody argues with them, and with their own Lord Mayor in place, they don’t have to listen to the citizens of Brisbane. What Brisbane needs is an independent Chairman to keep the bastards honest!